1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-air conditioner, and more particularly, to a multi-air conditioner and a group-unit control method thereof, wherein a plurality of indoor units can be controlled on a group basis.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, an air conditioner is a home appliance that cools or heats a residing space or the indoor space of an office or the like.
Nowadays, with the increase in the number of multiple dwelling buildings and large-scale, high-rise buildings, a multi-air conditioner is being increasingly supplied which cools or heats an indoor space partitioned into a plurality of rooms.
This multi-air conditioner consists of one outdoor unit, and a plurality of indoor units connected in common to the outdoor unit and installed respectively in the rooms.
That is, the outdoor unit is used commonly for the indoor units, and the indoor units each operate as a cooler or heater as needed, to perform the air conditioning of the corresponding room.
In order to individually control the indoor units installed respectively in the rooms, a wired/wireless controller must be provided for each of the indoor units to individually control the corresponding indoor unit.
On the other hand, for group-unit control for grouping the indoor units into a plurality of groups and operating each group of indoor units at the same time, a single wired controller must be connected in parallel to all the indoor units of each group.
If air conditioning operation conditions, such as operation ON/OFF, cooling/heating mode, air volume, temperature, etc., are inputted through the wired controller, then all the indoor units of the corresponding group receive the inputted operation conditions and perform the same air conditioning operation based on the received operation conditions at one time.
However, a separate wiring process is required for the parallel connection of one wired controller to the indoor units of each group for the group-unit control of the multi-air conditioner.
Further, it is impossible to perform the group-unit control for an indoor unit which is not connected with the wired controller.
Furthermore, for addition or change of an object, or indoor unit, to which the group-unit control is to be applied, it is necessary to change the wiring for the controller connection.